[NABS-L] A technology recommendation for all of you

Thu Jul 26 16:04:05 UTC 2018

Hi Gary,
My name is Jessica.
Can you pease write me off list?
I'd like to do an article for the publiction you write for, but can't think of its name off of top of my head.

Thanks,
Jessica
On Jul 26, 2018 11:27 AM, Gary Wunder via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> What an interesting story. Thanks. 
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cricket X. 
> Bidleman via NABS-L 
> Sent: Monday, July 23, 2018 12:07 AM 
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
> Cc: Cricket X. Bidleman 
> Subject: [NABS-L] A technology recommendation for all of you 
>
> Hi all, 
>
> This is long. Please read it anyway. As of last July, I received the 
> AIRA Back-to-School award. Basically, this gave me free minutes on 
> AIRA for nine months, the last of which recently ended. (Endless 
> thanks to Kathryn Webster for being instrumental in that process.) 
> I'll admit I was a little skeptical because first of all, I didn't 
> think I'd use it. I also knew they had basically repurposed Google 
> Glass, and Google Glass in its original form was kind of a floppy 
> failure... And then some. 
>
> So Cricket, where's that "recommendation" you promised us? Well, here 
> it is. I can say, through my own abundant use of the software in my 
> first year of college, that I sincerely feel that AIRA is 
> revolutionizing instant access to all areas of life. Accessibility is 
> a huge issue for us as blind students and though it's slowly being 
> worked on in general, sometimes it's necessary to have instant access 
> to things. I'd call it "accessibility on demand" or something like 
> that. One particular instance comes to mind. 
>
> I was incredibly overwhelmed. It was my first day at Stanford, 
> September 19 of last year. My parents had just left me in a dorm full 
> of people I didn't know, in a place I'd never been to. I was walking 
> around, trying not to bump into things, when I mentally slapped myself 
> for forgetting that I had an a capella audition, and then another one, 
> and then a choir audition, and then a meeting with my pre-major 
> advisor. I really didn't want to be the problem child constantly 
> asking for help from the RA's who, quite frankly, had more than enough 
> disoriented freshmen to deal with. So, because I'm so brilliant, I 
> walked out of my dorm with my cane, wearing a black dress and high 
> heels, into 90 degree weather. I made it all the way down the hill by 
> my dorm and then I had to mentally slap myself again because I 
> realized something... I didn't know the campus at all. I walked around 
> a bit, and then got turned around, and then got lost, and then got 
> even more lost. There were freshmen everywhere, but they were all lost 
> too, and a bunch of them gave me atrociously  wrong directions. I 
> called AIRA and in five minutes, they had me straightened out and 
> going in the right direction. Turned out I was on the opposite side of 
> campus from where I was supposed to be. Thanks, all you disoriented 
> freshmen... 
>
> Let me tell you something about Stanford campus. you know how like 
> every sane person designing a college campus makes them arranged like 
> city blocks? There are clear streets, buildings are arranged in grid 
> patterns, they're in numerical order... Stanford's designer must have 
> been crazy, because this campus is not like that at all. There are 
> twists and turns everywhere and though there are a couple of main 
> streets here and there, most of the campus isn't even nearly 
> accessible by car, much less by some lost blind student. Google Maps 
> doesn't really help, so my AIRA agent (Emma) was cross-referencing 
> three different maps while trying to keep an eye on me so I wouldn't 
> step in a fountain. Yes, that is a possibility here. People actually 
> jump in fountains for fun. Emma is phenomenal, and managed to get me 
> to my audition on time. Part of that was because, by some happy 
> coincidence, I'd left three hours early, but even so I was rushing at 
> the end. At least I made it, sore feet and all. 
>
> Anyway since then, I've had many experiences with AIRA, and all of 
> them have ended up positive. One time I was chasing down a Uber 
> because it wanted to ditch me... One time I was cramming for a test 
> with a textbook that I hadn't gotten in Braille on time since it was 
> my first quarter here. One time an agent was reading Plato's Republic 
> to me when I may or may not have taken a nap, and they may or may not 
> have had to wake me up. They were really nice about it though. You 
> know these people are awesome when they can even pronounce pars 
> opercularis properly. I can't even do that. (That's an essential part 
> of the brain involved in language processing by the way.) And once 
> they were able to describe, in extreme detail, a brain diagram I was 
> studying for psychology. I later got the Braille diagram, and it was 
> nowhere near as detailed as the AIRA agent's description. 
>
> So my point is, please do yourself a huge favor and get AIRA. You can 
> get funding for it from the Department of Rehab. Or scholarship money 
> can go toward it, or you can apply for their scholarships. I promise 
> you it will be integral as you go through education and life in 
> general. If my word isn't enough, and even if it is, I fully encourage 
> you to check out this blog post by Jonathan Mosen. He's a technology 
> consultant who has way more experience than me. He's worked with 
> Humanware and Freedom Scientific, and for many years has run his own 
> consulting company. He designs websites, travels a lot, runs several 
> podcasts and a radio station, writes books, and is pretty much the 
> kind of person many of us aspire to emulate in terms of success. He 
> uses AIRA and in this post, talks about how powerfully this innovative 
> solution has impacted his life. Please give it a read--I promise it 
> will change your outlook. https://mosen.org/aira/ 
>
> Best, 
> Cricket X. Bidleman (she/her/hers) 
> Stanford University | Class of 2021 
>
> P.S. If you have Emma as your AIRA agent, tell her I said hello. :) 
>
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